Madeleine Pickens, wife ofTexas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens, is suing Del Mar, saying a city order to prune the plants on the back deck of her $35 million home infringeson her property rights.

Neighbors Charles and Lynn Gaylord say that evergreen shrubs and palms partially block their view down the coast to La Jolla.

“Anyone who has visited our house knows that we are almost always leaving the sliding glass doors open to enjoy and to demonstrate the scenic view which used to extend south to the coast — all the way to La Jolla,” Charles Gaylord told Del Mar planning commissioners at a hearing on the matter in 2008.

Madeleine Pickens, 62, says in her suit, filed Sept. 18 in Superior Court, that the city's enforcement of its view ordinance is “arbitrary, capricious, and unconstitutional” in “retroactively imposing landscaping requirements” that she said she learned about a week before escrow closed on her beachfront property.

Pickens paid $35 million for her 5,800-square-foot home in 2007 — the highest known sales price in the county. She seeks damages in excess of $25,000 and attorneys' fees.

“I'm not going to talk about that. That's silly stuff," Pickens said this week about the lawsuit. “That's not newsworthy to anyone.”

She said about her neighbors: “Apparently they feel they're entitled to their view all the way down to La Jolla from their couch.”

The Gaylords could not be reached for comment yesterday. If Pickens' suit is successful, it's unclear how that would affect the city's view ordinance, which is one of two in the county. Solana Beach also has an ordinance that empowers the city to regulate disputes among neighbors. Usually such disputes are handled informally or taken directly to court.

Del Mar's view ordinance, enacted in 2002, provides a process for residents to seek the restoration of scenic views going back as far as 10 years.

Besides the 5,800-square-foot main house on 120 feet of beachfront, Pickens' property includes a guest house that is about 800square feet.

The Gaylords bought their 2,815-square-foot home in 1995 for $2,850,000, according to property records.

In December, the Del Mar City Council told Pickens to cut the plants screening her outdoor patio on the beach down to 2 feet tall.

Pickens sued, asking a judge to overturn the council's order. She said that when she bought the house, no one disclosed that the property had binding restrictions on the size or height of landscaping.

While Pickens was in escrow on the house on Ocean Front Avenue, the Gaylords complained to the city that the plants blocked southern views of the La Jolla coastline from their living room/deck area. They said the plants had once grown to as high as 25 feet. A photo of the Pickens house taken yesterday shows them to be much shorter.

The Del Mar Planning Commission and City Council considered the matter last year at five public meetings.

The Gaylords pleaded for their view to be restored. They cited a 1995 landscape plan the city approved for the home that limited the size of hedges to protect views. They said the previous owner allowed the plants to grow, but said Pickens added more plants after moving in.

“We made all kinds of both formal and informal attempts to address this issue, both with prior owners and with the new owners,” Charles Gaylord said at a meeting June 10, 2008, of the Del Mar Planning Commission.

In December, the City Council ordered Pickens to prune the plants to restore the views to the level shown in a 1999 photograph provided by the Gaylords.

The lawsuit says the council members acted with “bias” because at a meeting on the dispute they disclosed their personal friendships with the Gaylords.

Del Mar City Attorney Leslie Devaney declined to comment, saying she hasn't seen the lawsuit yet.

Mayor Crystal Crawford said she could not comment without more information, but added: “I have a great deal of confidence in our council, in our staff and in our community process.”

City Councilman Carl Hilliard said: “I'm very sad to see that this wasn't resolved between the parties and has reached litigation.”

Pickens divides her time between Del Mar and Texas, her primary residence. A horse breeder and philanthropist, she is known for her animal welfare activism, including an ongoing effort to establish a preserve for wild mustangs.